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My sciatica experience

Posted By DM14

"My sciatica experience"

About: Crosshouse Hospital / General Medicine Crosshouse Hospital / Trauma & orthopaedics

(as the patient),

I was admitted to ward 2a from the A&E dept after being brought in by ambulance with acute sciatica.

I was given morphine for my excruciating pain, which did not help, so was taken for x-rays. I was told a Doctor would meet me on the ward to go over my x-rays and try other meds. There was no Doctor on the ward, nurse told me a Doctor from A&E should have admitted me. Because of this mix up I could not get any meds as I was not on the "system".

A Doctor finally came at 11. 30 that night, examined me, said I had sciatica, then sent in a nurse with meds and the instruction from the doctor that I could go home when I was ready!

I was still in excruciating pain and could not weight bear. The nurses on the ward could not do enough to help me, they were great.

On my 7th night there, I too was woken up at 4. 30 in the morning and told I was being moved to CDU ward as trauma patient needed my bed. The nurses again were very apologetic and helpful.

Once in CDU I could not get any meds at usual time of 8am, I was told by nurse I had to wait until lunchtime as ward 2a has an electronic system for dispensing and CDU still work on a paper system. Could they not have printed out my meds and given them to me or the nurses to pass on? By this time I was in a lot more pain, disorientated, anxious and emotional. This had a detrimental effect on my well being and my confidence. Had I been told previously this move may happen I could have been more prepared for it.

I was not fully informed of all aspects of my care journey as suggested on your notice boards.

Thankfully I have had the greatest of care from my consultant and their team.

Many thanks to all staff on 2a

Thanks also to a staff member in CDU and the physio staff.

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 8 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 20/07/2015 at 17:44
Published on Care Opinion at 19:38

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear DM14,

I am very sorry that you were not happy with some of the decisions made, and that you feel your pain was not well-controlled at times during your stay in hospital.

When you transferred from A/E to Ward 2A, it should have been possible for medicines to be prescribed for you straight away. Similarly, when you transferred from Ward 2A to CDU, there are systems in place which should have ensured that your prescribing and medicines administration record transferred seamlessly from electronic to paper systems. Without knowing the exact detail of your case, it’s difficult to comment further, but if you would like your issues to be investigated in more depth please contact me.

I understand that being moved at four in the morning could have been very upsetting for you, particularly as you didn’t expect this to happen. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable on some occasions – the staff involved at the time would have considered other options first, to see if it would have been possible for you to stay in your bed in Ward 2A.

Thank you for your praise for the staff involved in your care. The management team will pass this on to make sure they are aware of your post and your praise. As always, I pass all posts on to the appropriate area of service for management and staff consideration. If you feel it would be helpful to discuss your care further, please feel free to contact me at eunice.goodwin@aapct.scot.nhs.uk or phone me on 01563 826222 and let me know your name and date of birth.

I hope you are recovering well now.

Best wishes,

Eunice

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